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Thursday, 14 October 2010

Attire Doesn't Determine Ones Religious Belief

I returned from Syria and Jordan on Monday dead tired and one skin tone darker "thanks" to the sun rays that beat down mercilessly whilst I was in Petra. I was also recovering from a bout of diarrhea which I suspected was from some exposed shawarma.

But I was happy and satisfied that I embarked on this journey that was filled with amazing history and rich culture as well as friendly locals and fellow travellers I met along the way.

To kick off my series of blog entries on Syria and Jordan, take a look at this picture:

An obituary outside St Mary's Greek Orthodox Church

This is an obituary that was on the notice board outside the St Mary's Greek Orthodox Church in the Old City of Damascus.

Take a closer look at the guy on the left. He's wearing an Arab head gear called the keffiyeh that a huge majority of us associate with Islam (think Yassir Arafat). We tend to think that all men who wear the keffiyeh are Muslims. But this guy in the obituary is a Christian.

This just goes to show that attire doesn't determine ones religion, or at least in the Middle East, that is.